Chess: Brain, Blood and Fun

Chess is an abstract strategy board game for two players. It is played on a square board of eight rows (called ranks) and eight columns (called files), giving 64 squares of alternating color, light and dark, with each player having a light square at the near-right corner when facing the board. Each player begins the game with 16 pieces which can move in defined directions (and in some instances, limited range) and can remove other pieces from the board: each player's pieces comprise eight pawns, two knights, two bishops, two rooks, one queen and one king. All pieces can remove opponent's pieces by landing on the space they occupy. One player controls the white pieces and the other player controls the black pieces; the player that controls white is always the first player to move. In chess, when a player's king is directly threatened with capture by one or more of the opponent's pieces, the player is said to be in check. When in check, only moves that can evade check, block check, or take the offending piece are permitted. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent; this occurs when the opponent's king is in check, and no move can be made that would prevent it. Basic Rules of Chess Learn the Basics Launch All about the Game History, openings, tactics....everything about the most violent game in the world Launch Daily Chess Test your chess skills with a daily new problem Launch A lot of variants Launch Chinese Chess Another War Game Launch Chess in the movies Launch A lot of problems Collection of chess puzzles Launch Play Chess Launch